Image source: The Motley Fool.

DATE

Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

  • Global CEO — Yueting Jia
  • Chief Accounting Officer — John Schilling

Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected]

TAKEAWAYS

  • Revenue -- $512,000, up 62% year over year, reflecting the first quarter of material shipments in robotics and ecosystem revenue, with ecosystem revenue comprising 26% of the total.
  • Robot Shipments -- 68 units delivered by April 30, with paid preorders exceeding 1,200 units and a stated full-year 2026 target raised to 1,500 units.
  • Product Gross Margin -- Positive for delivered EAI robotics products, supporting short-term cash flow and diversifying revenue channels.
  • Loss from Operations -- $35.9 million, narrowing 18% from the $43.8 million loss in the prior-year quarter, including $11 million in noncash items.
  • G&A Expenses -- $9.2 million, down 33% year over year, primarily from reduced professional fees.
  • Operating Cash Burn -- $31.5 million, after adjusting for noncash items and working capital movements.
  • Stockholders' Equity -- $19.2 million, reflecting a $59 million increase over two quarters and a 148% sequential rise, driven by debt-to-equity conversion, vendor settlement, and warrant termination.
  • Equity Financing -- $12 million of committed equity financing added through an amended share purchase agreement, and $45 million in new funding received from U.S. institutional investors in April.
  • SEC Investigation Conclusion -- The four-year SEC investigation is formally closed with no “punishment or legal action against the company or leadership," per management.
  • Nasdaq Compliance Notice -- Company has entered a 180-day remediation period to regain stock price compliance, prompting initiatives to accelerate execution and market engagement.
  • Strategic Focus -- The EAI robotics business takes precedence as the company's core near-term growth engine, with vehicle-scale production "fully launch that business once we have secured strategic or long-term investment and sufficient funding," according to Yueting Jia.
  • Regulatory/Government Support -- California State Treasurer Fiona Ma voiced support for FF’s product integration into government procurement and EAI transformation initiatives.

SUMMARY

Faraday Future Intelligent Electric (FFAI 4.46%) reported a substantial shift to robotics as the driver of revenue, highlighted by a significant increase in sales and new business segment momentum. Strategic clarity was reinforced by an explicit focus on humanoid and bionic robots, delaying full-scale vehicle production until additional funding is secured. Capital structure transformation was advanced through two consecutive quarters of positive equity growth and considerable new financing. Governance changes with the appointment of Yueting Jia as sole Global CEO aim to accelerate execution and tighten alignment between capital deployment and business results. The end of the long-standing SEC investigation and growing government support were cited as turning points for operational flexibility and market confidence.

  • Company management said they have launched a collective stockholding plan for executives and employees and initiated legal action against illegal short selling and the dissemination of false misleading information.
  • The proprietary EAI Brain and developer platform are operational, with commercial demos deployed and a "cloud platform and a robot management backend V1.0" now live, according to management.
  • FF has closed its R&D to sales loop within two months of product launch, establishing both centralized and decentralized data factory components, and cited first batch of pilot real-world data already collected across devices.
  • EAI robotics education products are being launched, with a conference scheduled in early June and education identified as a major initial use case.
  • Company leadership has stated a commitment to achieving recurring revenue and a clear path towards sustainable profitability, while focusing on operational efficiency and ecosystem expansion

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

  • EAI: Embodied Artificial Intelligence, FF’s term for AI applied to physical robotic and automotive systems, forming the core of its business platform.
  • Sim2Real: The process of transferring AI models trained in simulated environments to physical robots operating in real-world conditions.
  • Data Factory: The company’s proprietary pipeline and operating system for collecting, validating, uploading, and processing robotics data at scale for commercial and AI training use.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Yueting Jia: Thank you, John, and thank you to those joining us here today. I would like to thank the company and the Board for their trust in acknowledging and appointing me as Global CEO. In today's call, I will provide an update on FF's first quarter 2026 results, key progress from the first quarter through today and our outlook for the next stage of growth. FF will officially evolve into a U.S.-based physical AI ecosystem company focusing on 2 product engines within its EAI robotics business, EAI humanoid and bionic robots, and EAI automotive robots, committed to an AI-first philosophy. By building a 3-in-1 ecosystem, consisting of device, brain and open source and open developer platform and data.

FF aims to create an evolutionary flywheel of scaled device delivery, data collection and training, continued evolution of the EAI Brain, stronger product capability and larger-scale delivery with the goal of maximizing commercial value. In terms of business model, FF generates platform revenue through agent skill revenue sharing, platform service fees, and enterprise solutions. At the same time, through EAI brand licensing, FF can extend its general intelligence capabilities to more robots and intelligent devices, creating scalable licensing revenue. More importantly, every skill call, agent operation and device deployment will continuously accumulate real-world data, which will flow back to the EAI Brain through the data factory.

This creates an evolutionary flywheel and builds EAI ecosystem infrastructure that will be difficult to replicate in the physical AI era. From a strategic execution standpoint, our first phase will focus primarily on humanoid and bionic robotics with EAI automotive robotics serving as a complementary business. And I also want to reiterate something very clearly regarding our vehicle robotics business. We will only fully launch that business once we have secured strategic or long-term investment and sufficient funding to support scaled production and delivery. Until then, we will continue moving forward in a disciplined way with low cost, low capital intensity, low risk and a strong focus on maximizing stockholder value. Let me now walk through our business update.

The first quarter of 2026 was a pivotal period for our robotics business. As our 3-in-1 EAI ecosystem strategy began forming a tangible commercial closed loop, EAI device update. Devices serve as a physical gateway to our strategy. We're accelerating deployment of FF robotics devices across vertical use cases, capitalizing on our first-mover advantage as the first U.S. company to deliver humanoid and bionic robots. On February 4, we officially released 3 series of EAI robot products, Futurist, Master and Aegis. During the event, the company announced a cumulative nonbinding nonrefundable paid preorders for our robot products of over 1,200 units. The delivery of our EAI robots started in late February with positive product gross margins.

The total shipments have reached 68 units by the end of April. This provides a new asset-light, high-margin revenue source that is expected to support short-term cash flow while reinforcing our long-term ecosystem strategy. We are also actively expanding our dealer network in robot sales, and we continue to explore diversified sales models, including customized leasing programs. EAI Brain and open source and open developer platform update. Brain smarts our products, leveraging an open-source foundation model and our data factory. We are building a proprietary EAI Brain that bridges simulation and real-robot data training. This creates a close loop of efficient Sim2Sim and Sim2Real deployment, and continuous model self-evolution, targeting manipulation autonomy by year-end.

To date, we have successfully built a cross-platform architecture for our self-developed EAI interactive brain with commercial demos now running across multiple sectors. Our proprietary data portal, cloud platform and a robot management backend V1.0 are live, laying the smart management groundwork for large-scale operations. Open source and open developer platform is enabling system for our strategy. By opening our platform to global developers, we significantly expand the value and diversity of our ecosystem, speed up the flywheel and establish 1 of FF's most important levers for creating a differentiated competitive moat. We held our EAI and developer platform strategy launch in San Francisco, officially initiating the era of EAI robotics education tailored for AI native.

We achieved the first practical application of open claw on our robots and are successfully testing its expansion across various scenarios. Data factory update. Data fuels our strategy. As the first U.S. company to deliver humanoid and bionic robots, we are moving aggressively to build a first-mover advantage in the data business with the goal of fully commercializing our data factory to close the loop. We closed the R&D to sales loop in just 2 months after we launched our 3-in-1 strategy in February. Our data factory powered by our proprietary data OS replaces the costly custom-built data collection model, and we've signed and begun delivery on our first sales order within 2 months of launch.

The data factory consists of 2 components: centralized and decentralized. For Centralized Data Factory, we developed a full stack in-house software suite covering collection, validation, upload and conversion on par with industry benchmark tools and with the core tool chain fully under our control. The first centralized supermarket shelf scenario is deployed at our L.A. headquarters and our teleoperation data business is in active market outreach. For Decentralized Data Factory, we built our own data collection software, eliminating the need to purchase costly third-party robot hardware just to access basic software licenses.

The full pipeline from collection and processing to FF cloud upload is up and running, and we've collected the first batch of pilot real-world data across our EAI devices. We have signed MOU with Boston International Business School to jointly establish the BBSI FF AI Robotics Institute, the first industry-driven physical AI and robotics institute in the U.S. Now let's dive into the first quarter of 2026 financial results. Robotics emerged as the company's new revenue engine in its inaugural quarter of deliveries. For the first quarter of 2026, the company generated revenue of $512,000, representing a 62% increase from $316,000 in the same period last year, which itself nearly matches full year 2025 revenue of $536,000.

This includes both device sales and ecosystem revenue with ecosystem revenue, including skilled software capability packs, et cetera, accounting for 26% of total revenue. The continuous delivery of robots is a pivotal milestone, allowing the company to begin realizing positive product gross profit. Please note that some in-transit robots are not yet included in this first quarter revenue. The income and corresponding costs for these units will be recognized when they have been officially delivered. Our loss from operations narrowed 18% year-over-year from $43.8 million in Q1 2025 to $35.9 million in Q1 2026, of which approximately $11 million consisted of noncash items, including depreciation, amortization, goodwill impairment and share-based compensation.

After adjusting for noncash items and working capital movements, net cash used in operating activities, the company's actual operating cash burn was $31.5 million for the quarter. G&A expenses declined 33% year-over-year from $13.7 million in Q1 2025 to $9.2 million in Q1 2026, primarily driven by a substantial reduction in professional fees, reflecting the company's continued discipline in optimizing its cost structure. Turning to our balance sheet. Our stockholders' equity grew 148% quarter-over-quarter, standing at $19.2 million at the end of Q1 2026, making the second consecutive quarter of positive equity growth. Q3 2025, large asset impairment was a noncash accounting adjustment.

Since that trough, equity has rebounded for 2 consecutive quarters from negative $39.5 million to $19.2 million, a $59 million improvement over 6 months, driven by debt-to-equity conversion, vendor sentiment and voluntary warrant termination. We believe FF is one of the few U.S. listed companies to engineer a return to positive stockholders' equity with continued growth within just 2 quarters of a major strategic impairment. Now let's discuss capital markets update. In the first quarter and subsequent weeks of 2026, the company secured critical funding and made strategic adjustments to our capital structure to support our EAI vision.

In April 2026, we amended and upsized our existing share purchase agreement with a third party designated by AIxCrypto, bringing total committed equity financing to $12 million. The amendment replaced antidilution provisions with fixed warrants tied to operational milestones, a structure we believe better serves both the company and our existing stockholders while injecting meaningful capital to support continued execution of our EAI strategy. In April, the company successfully received $45 million in new financing from American institutional investors.

Given EAI Robotics asset-light operating model and a relatively modest near-term capital requirements, we are deploying these funds to build a differentiated growth model, supporting short-term cash flow generation with limited additional investment while reinforcing the long-term expansion of our EAI ecosystem. This financing provides a solid financial foundation for supporting the initial production ramp-up from the EAI Robotics strategy, while preserving optionality for further capital structure optimization and strategic investment in subsequent phases. On the regulatory front, we reached a major milestone on March 18 when the SEC formally concluded its investigation of over 4 years. The SEC decided not to take any punishment or legal action against the company or leadership.

The investigation has constrained our development and its conclusion serves as a powerful counterattack against illegal short sellers. Regarding our listing status, we received a notice from NASDAQ on March 20 regarding a 180-day remediation period to satisfy stock price compliance. To get there, we are accelerating business execution, advancing strategic initiatives and fighting illegal short selling. To restore market confidence and protect stockholders' interest, we have launched a collective stockholding plan for executives and employees and initiated legal action against illegal short selling and the dissemination of false misleading information. We have also maintained high frequency engagement with the capital markets including a New York institutional investor meeting and a series of capital and industry conferences.

Now let's discuss our recent progress on system building. We are fundamentally transforming our AI system by upgrading our governance concept from PPTIA to AI-PPTI. We have also introduced the overarching governance philosophy of AI first. Through this new management concept and an upgraded AI talent organization system, AI is transitioning from a simple auxiliary tool into a key infrastructure that drives business growth and decision optimization. Our corporate governance system is also undergoing major changes, specifically by strengthening our closed-loop management from financing to performance. To maintain strategic continuity, take better responsibility for investors, investment results and enhance internal and external trust and cohesion. Another exciting event came from our government affairs.

FF Robotics business has received support from both the state of California and the local city government where FF is headquartered. California State Treasurer, Fiona Ma, expressed strong support for multiple areas of collaboration including the inclusion of FF products in California's GSA government procurement list, the EAI transformation of K-12 and higher education and the integration of EAI industry chain resources. 2026 outlook. With the SEC's 4-year investigation officially concluded, we believe we are entering a fundamentally new stage of development. This new chapter is defined by greater strategic clarity, improved operational flexibility and renewed momentum across our entire business. The renewal of this long-standing external overhang allows us to fully focus on execution, innovation and long-term value creation.

As we move forward, management is undertaking a comprehensive 5 key transformation initiative across our strategy, business, system, finance and capital. We will fully implement the EAI 3-in-1 strategy and our industrial bridge strategy. Our near-term focus will be on building a robotic ecosystem-driven revenue base and achieving a clear path towards sustainable profitability, which lays a solid foundation for the long-term value realization of the 3-in-1 strategy. At the same time, through continuous AI system level transformation, we aim to further enhance operational efficiency and overall business performance, ultimately, prioritizing stockholder value creation. Together, these initiatives are designed to strengthen our foundation, accelerate the commercialization of our AI and mobility ecosystem, enhanced financial discipline and rebuild long-term market confidence.

In the following sections, I will discuss in greater detail our strategic outlook and these 5 key transformation initiatives. First, our outlook on EAI strategy. At the core of this next chapter in our strategy evolution, the company is evolving from a traditional capital-driven growth model towards a more disciplined and sustainable framework centered on revenue validation and long-term ecosystem development. The large-scale deployment of positive gross margin robotics products is positioned as our primary growth engine, while we continue to advance our long-term ecosystem of EAI devices, the EAI brain and open source platform and the EAI centralized and decentralized data factory.

Looking ahead, under the guidance of our 3-in-1 strategy, we intend to firmly focus on scaling robotics deployment and monetization with positive gross margins while advancing our AI EV initiatives with a disciplined and cost-efficient approach. Our overall business model is shifting towards revenue generation, operational efficiency and ecosystem expansion with robotics serving as the first major growth driver. In the near term, we plan to focus on achieving commercial breakthroughs, expanding user adoption and building a broader ecosystem around its EAI Brain, developer platform and data infrastructure. As deployment volumes increase, we expect to establish a scalable growth flywheel driven by recurring revenue generation and the initial maturation of its integrated 3-in-1 business model.

Over time, we aim to build diversified monetization channels across products, platforms, software and data services. Second, on our product, technology and business outlook. In the near term, by 2026, we intend to streamline our product portfolio and prioritize robotics products with clear commercialization potential and positive monetization opportunities. With a growing demand across our 4 major product lines and key use cases, including education, security and inspection, reception and guidance, performances and university research together with the upcoming launch and delivery of our new K-12 education products, we have officially raised our 2026 annual shipping target to 1,500 units and will host our Educational Ecology (sic) [ Ecosystem ] & Product Launch conference in early June.

FF believes that robotics education will become the largest use case in the first phase of the robotics industry's B2C market. We are building the first large-scale EAI Robotics education system in the U.S., and we aim to be a major force in the very first year of America's EAI Robotics education ecosystem. In terms of product, we expect to initially focus on humanoid robotics while progressively expanding into additional categories, including quadruped robotics and other intelligent form factors. We believe this phased approach will allow us to refine products within specific use cases, establish repeatable deployment models and develop standardized scalable solutions over time. Third, looking at our systems and organization.

As previously discussed, we are advancing a comprehensive AI-driven transformation aimed at upgrading our governance philosophy, operational infrastructure and organizational capabilities. Under this AI-PPTI framework, AI is no longer viewed as a stand-alone tool, but at the core operating capability embedded across the organization. At the policy level, we are strengthening governance mechanisms around data management, AI usage standards, information security, compliance and model oversight to support scalable and responsible AI adoption. At the process level, we are redesigning workflows to enable more standardized, intelligent and automated operations allowing AI to play a larger role in analysis, coordination and execution across key business functions.

At the tools and information technology levels, we are building a more unified AI native operating environment, including enterprise AI platforms, cloud infrastructure, data systems and intelligent collaboration tools. At the same time, we are evolving our organizational structure and talent strategy to better align technical capabilities with business execution. We are investing in multidisciplinary talent and strengthening collaboration between operations and technical teams to support long-term AI integration across the enterprise. Fourth, our financial outlook. On the financial front, we are strengthening our strategic finance function. This year, we started building an AI-powered finance system not only to improve data accuracy and timeliness, but more importantly, to roll out financial guidance in a planned step-by-step manner.

We will build strategic financial empowerment on 3 levels. Mindset Shift, moved from business recording to business collaboration and value co-creation and from data provision to information analysis and decision guidance. AI Empowerment, embed AI brain into accounting and core finance functions. Process redesign under the new AI + human management model, redesign the financial management and operational analysis processes to match the new model and keep them dynamically optimized.

By the end of 2026, we expect to achieve the following financial goals improvement across the 3 financial statements with a steadily improving balance sheet structure, scaled revenue from the derived business and the closed loop revenue model for the brain and data businesses, delivering positive unit gross margin for devices and high-margin ecosystem revenue and a safe and stable cash flow. Financial information disclosed in a timely consistent manner, fully meeting SEC compliance requirements. Our financial analysis system tailored to FF's EAI business providing real-time guidance for decisions. Finally, our capital outlook. From a capital perspective, we are shifting to a long-term value-oriented capital structure.

At the initial stage of this transformation, we will rely on internally generated revenue and operating cash flow as our primary financial foundation. We will strengthen investor communication to help stabilize market sentiment and rebuild long-term investor confidence. Meanwhile, we plan to upgrade our financing approach by gradually reducing dependence on high cost short-term debt. We continue to optimize its capital structure and is currently actively engaging with strategic investors and long-term capital to secure the remaining funding required for the mass production of the FX Super One. We are also committed to regaining stock price compliance within NASDAQ's compliance period. Our preferred approach is to let the price recover naturally through operational improvements.

Conclusion, at a high level, we are positioning Faraday Future for a new phase driven by internally generated growth, stronger strategic partnerships and a significantly upgraded AI-driven technology ecosystem. We strongly believe that the 5 key transformations will materially improve execution and competitiveness while decisively realigning the company's market valuation with a long-term intrinsic value of its technology platform and future business opportunities. To conclude, I will now hand the call over to John for the Q&A.

John Schilling: Thank you, YT. As we wrap up, I would like to briefly highlight the materials included in the appendix. In the appendix, you'll find our unaudited balance sheets and financial statements as of, and for the 3 months ended March 31, 2026, providing additional detail on our financial position. These materials offer helpful context to support everything we have shared today. With that, we would now like to open the floor up for Q&A.

John Schilling: Question. During your 2025 earnings call in April, you set a 2026 robot shipment target of 1,000 units. Now you've raised it to 1,500 units. What gives you the confidence to hit this new target?

Yueting Jia: First, we are the first U.S. company to deliver both humanoid and bionic robots. That's a meaningful first-mover position in the blue ocean market. Our product lines already cover the most important use cases, EAI education, security patrolling, reception and performance applications and university research. Second, the numbers are tracking well. We've shipped 68 robots as of April 30, and we are progressing toward our 200 unit delivery target by the end of Q2. That gives us strong visibility into the full year end. Third, demand is broadening, especially in EAI education. With our K-12 education product launching shortly, we expect a meaningful new pool on top of what's already there.

Also in early June, we will host FF education ecosystem and product launch event. We are building the first large-scale EAI Robotics education system in the U.S. and we aim to be a major force in the very first year of America's EAI Robotics education ecosystem.

John Schilling: Question. Will FF still execute its vehicle delivery plan this year?

Yueting Jia: Yes. Vehicles remain a core part of FF's strategy. What we've adjusted is the timing. Today, we have 2 core embodied AI product engines, humanoid and bionic robots, and EAI vehicles as robots. In Phase I, robotics is a priority with vehicles playing a supporting role. Why this sequence? Robotics require far less capital than vehicles, generates revenue and gross margin faster, and plays directly to FF's existing strength in AI and integrated hardware software capabilities. For FX Super One specifically, full-scale mass production and delivery will begin once we secure strategic or long-term investor funding sufficient to support the ramp. Until then, we will proceed prudently, minimizing cost and investment, prioritizing safety and maximizing stockholder value.

This does shift the Super One delivery timeline. The updated plan is once funding is in place, the Super One 800-volt BEV is expected to reach its first, second and the third phases of delivery within 6 to 9 months, 12 to 15 months, and 21 to 24 months, respectively. The AIHER hybrid model is expected to reach its 3 delivery phases within 9 to 12 months, 21 to 24 months, and 24 to 28 months. This adjustment gives us several very real benefits. We can concentrate resources on robotics during its critical ramp-up, substantially reduced near-term cash outflows and accelerate the formation of an operational closed loop and significantly lower our financial risk.

John Schilling: Question. You announced on May 10 that YT Jia has been appointed Sole Global CEO, and Jerry Wang as Global Executive Chairman and that Matthias Aydt has resigned. What does this transition mean for the company's strategic direction and why now?

Yueting Jia: Thank you for the question. This transition is really about getting FF into the best shape we can. Clear alignment, sharper accountability, faster execution, which sets us up for the next phase of our EAI strategy. Let me be very clear, our strategic direction is not changing. We continue evolving into a U.S.-based physical AI ecosystem company with EAI Robotics as a priority business in the first phase. We shipped 68 robots as of April 30, with positive contribution margins, and we've raised our 2026 shipping target to 1,500 units. In the new organizational structure, Jerry oversee finance, legal, government affairs and strategic cooperation and risk management.

I oversee product EAI R&D, supply chain, manufacturing, quality, UES and VLE, and we jointly lead the strategy, capital market and the corporate operations. This transition creates a tight close loop from how we raise capital all the way to how we deliver business results. Capital strategy and real-world business performance are now directly linked. It strengthens our execution at exactly the moment FF need it most, and it directly reflects our commitment to putting stockholders first. I also want to take a moment to personally thank Matthias for his leadership as co-CEO.

With more than 4 decades of automotive industry experience, he played a central role in moving the FX Super One program forward, strengthening our manufacturing foundation and executing the bridge strategy with global partners. Through some of the most transformative moments in this company's journey, he has been a steady and trusted partner. I look forward to his continued contributions to FF in the next phase.

John Schilling: Question. Revenue for Q1 2026 was $512,000, how should investors think about your revenue trajectory for the rest of the year, given how early stage this commercialization is?

Yueting Jia: This is a fair question. I'd answer it in 3 parts. First, Q1 is the starting point, not a baseline. In Q1, we began generating robotic sales revenue with positive product gross margin but our full year 2026 target is cumulative shipments of more than 1,500 EAI robots, and we are tracking towards 200 cumulative units by the end of Q2. That gives investors clear visibility on the shape of the ramp through the rest of the year. Revenue contribution will scale meaningfully as deliveries accelerate.

Second, investors should track several leading indicators alongside absolute revenue: one, cumulative shipment growth quarter-over-quarter; two, product gross margin stability and improvement; three, preorder momentum, which we have 1,200 paid preorders on launch day; and four, new revenue lines coming online, for example, our data factory just signed its first sales order, opening up a high-margin, asset-light repeat purchase data business on top of hardware sales. Third, at the strategic level, Q1 marks the start of our device data brain flywheel, that's why FF should be understood, not as a hardware company, but as a 3-in-1 EAI ecosystem platform, and we believe this is only the beginning of the long-term value creation curve for our EAI ecosystem.

John Schilling: Thank you, YT, and thank you, everyone, for your time. This concludes our investors Q&A session. We appreciate all the questions submitted and apologize if we couldn't get to all of them today. We remain committed to maintaining open communication with our investors. That concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation.

Operator: Thank you. This does conclude the conference. You may now disconnect.